permission to re-open a sea-bed network of highly sensitive microphones around Bermuda.

For two years, former US Navy officer Duane Cox and the Bermuda Biological Station for Research have been talking to the Navy about reactivating the Sound Surveillance System, or Sosus.

Now it appears the network, which was shut down when the Navy left Bermuda, could be up and running by the New Year bringing ocean sounds from thousands of miles away to the Island.

"We are getting ready to hook it up,'' said Mr. Cox. "We got the Navy's blessing last week and we are getting ready to move equipment to Bermuda.'' During the Cold War, the US Government spent $16 billion on a global network of hidden seabed microphones to spy on ships and submarines.

The microphones are so sensitive they have tracked the movement of a whale for more than 2,000 miles as it migrated past Bermuda.

It is thought there are about 100 microphones in the Island system and to avoid security issues a plan has been drawn up to filter out the sounds of submarines -- so it cannot be used to spy on US ships and submarines.

Yesterday Bio Station's director Dr. Tony Knap said: "We started talking about this two years ago because there is a lot of sensitivity involved, but it an exciting opportunity for us.'' He said the possibilities were tremendous because the system could hear so many sounds in the sea -- including whales and even small sea creatures.

But it can also be used to help oceanographic mapping, can listen to underground volcanoes and could lead to new understandings of the deep as well as find new ways to save oceans from ecological harm.

It will also have implications for business -- possibly helping to predict earthquakes and shifts in weather patterns.

The network is linked to the old Tudor Hill base and once it is re-opened, information will be sent to Virginia and then disseminated to scientists.

It is also possible it will be used for educational purposes with links set up to Britain.

Mr. Cox, president of the Virginia-based non-profit Scientific Environmental Research Foundation, worked on Sosus for 16 years. He hopes to have the system running by March when the whale migrations start.

ANIMALS ALS